The Heart of Aldnoah
by SirIsaac'sLady
Summary: (Beginning during the final episode of season one of Aldnoah Zero) During one of the great turning points, fate takes a different course. Following the completion of the mission, Princess One, Asseylum returns with a grievously injured Inaho to the Deucalion and the story diverges from there. (Rated M to be safe. Violence, PTSD and sexual tension, perhaps more to come.)
1. Author's Note

I am a strong, STRONG believer that Inaho and Asseylum were meant for each other, but just as strongly, their souls… belong to their respective people. I completely support the canon ending and given the events as they unfolded I would expect nothing less of those two individuals. I am also exceptionally proud of the writers for not compromising their characters or plot to force a romantic ending that while satisfying in the short term, undercuts all the power the story had for a cheap payout.

Having said that, I cannot help but wonder, if something, somehow, along the way had been different could those two people have no found a way to live and serve their worlds together?

I have every desire to play the characters as close to canon as possible and stick to what story elements will continue regardless of the change I have made. Please feel free to comment if you feel I am divulging too far from those core characters (in a way that is constructive, anyone simply saying how they would have done it differently without supporting reasons or simply saying 'it was just wrong' will be dismissed with a pat on the head and told to go piss on someone else's parade).

Every 5th entry in the story will be an aside from me, posing questions, thoughts and ideas, before we reconvene for the continuation of the story. I am deeply inspired by this idea and I hope to post often, however I am also a single mom who is going to school, and moving this summer a state over, so bear with me if my muse is beaten into submission by the willful whims of a two-year-old.

I adore contact and feedback, you are always welcome to message me to simply talk, I often find myself inspired by the people around me as much as I am by my own creative power. Please bear in mind while doing so, I have only watched the anime, I have not had the opportunity to sit down and read for sometime, so I have not yet managed to make my way through the manga. (Does anyone by chance know how faithful it is?)

Thank you, and without further ado, this is The Heart of Aldnoah.


	2. Chapter 1

"Inaho no! Are you alright?" Swift footsteps carried her to the the wreckage of the orange kataphrakt, the only light, the intermittent flashes from the slowly dying displays within the metal shell, until even they too died, and darkness descended all over the dormant landing castle. "Are you alright? Inaho?" Princess Asseylum vers Allusia, leaned into the escape hatch of the kataphrakt, hoping and praying for a reply as her eyes slowly adjusted to the far dimmer light. Her heart already racing from adrenaline, skipped a beat when a weak and unfocused voice returned her call.

"Seylum, is that you?" Ensconced in the heavy impact resistant padding inside the kataphrakt, Inaho struggled to focus, the force of the impact had knocked him half unconscious. The dull throbbing of his head as blood sluggishly leaked down his face was doing nothing to aid in his focus; but even as dimly aware as he was, the sound of her voice cut through the fog like the crystal chime of a bell.

"Inaho, you're alive… thank goodness." There was marked relief in her tone as she squinted in the dark, trying to make out the interior of the pod, reaching out with her voice when her hands found nothing familiar she could use as markers to where Inaho was, "I have shut down the land castle's Aldnoah drive!" her eyes started to adjust enough she could vaguely make out shapes in the dark, and she kept talking, wanting to hear his voice rise again in reply, "The operation was a success, now we should escape."

The words had meaning, somewhere in his mind, but everything was still trapped in the fog as Inaho struggled to stay conscious while his whole body pulsed with the damage that had been done to it; but still he clung to the sound of her voice, "Sorry, Seylum… can't see very well... I have blood in my eyes." He needed to reply to her, to let her know he was still there, still conscious, but the thought to understand and reply to the meaning of the words was too much for him. A pair of small but warm hand descended into the cockpit to embrace his and Seylum's voice followed, offering comfort and reassurance.

"I am right here, Inaho." Seylum reached down to gently guide Inaho's hand out of the cockpit, to be his eyes when his own were so useless. Tears stung at the corners of of her green, but there was no time to let them fall, instead she spoke the words in her heart, "Let me help you…" A gentle guiding tug would have him out of the confines of the downed kataphrakt and soon enough they would be back amongst their friends and companions, one more step toward the end of this conflict, "everything is fine…"

Inaho felt his arm protest as it was lifted higher and his shoulder screamed at the movement, but it was worth it to be able to feel the soft curve of her cheek, lifted in a smile, brush against the back of his knuckles. Forcing his numb hands to find the releases on his seat, he let gravity help as he slid back out of the seat, small soft hands catching him and helping him to sit up and turn around. Seylum slowly helped to guide him out of the kataphrakt, until he sat on the edge of the hatch, beside her, struggling to find the strength to get his feet under him so they could move out. Even if it took a moment, a moment to gather himself wouldn't be a waste if he could avoid fainting when he tried to stand.

Bang. Splat.

Seylum stood frozen for a moment, not quite comprehending the event, even as her mind identified a gunshot and she felt the hot wet splatter of blood splash across her face. Her heart stopped as Inaho slumped, sliding off the edge of the cockpit and to the ground; his hand slipping numbly from hers. The sound of his life blood dripping down with an audible plop from a wound now concealed by his crumpled position, echoed in her ears even as they continued to ring with the sound of the gunshot. Turning her head in disbelief she saw Count Saazbaum, slumped against a wall, a smoking gun in his hand as he stared at her with his eyes dead of all feeling. And in the moment it took her to turn, another shot rang out, and her body was thrown back with the force of the impact to her shoulder.

Across the room, Slaine stared at his Lord, whose side he had chosen, the side of the Versians who would never accept him, shoot the very soul he had chosen to follow even if it cost him his life. His body was in motion even before his mind caught up, racing toward Princess Asseylum as she staggered and started to fall; his hands had almost reached her when he heard another shot ring out, and with every ounce of strength he had to give he threw himself forward, shielding his Princess as he felt a heavy impact and than shooting pain spread throughout his back. The seconds passed like hours as hot wetness poured down his back, leaving him colder and colder despite the sensation of heat on his skin.

Pain was screaming through her as Seylum was thrown against the kataphrakt, and it was all she could do to hold not scream from the sensation, nothing had ever hurt this much in her life. No sooner had she realized that pain than another body impacted hers, throwing her to the ground, and the pain rose again, threatening to overwhelm her. "P-Prince-cess." A familiar voice struggled to speak as Seylum turned, her eyes wide to hear Slaine voice after what felt like lifetimes. Hot, wet blood poured down her back as he lay atop her and her heart throbbed because even without extensive medical knowledge she knew, no one could lose that much blood and live. "Pr-prin-ce-cess…." The word grew choked after only a few seconds, as Seylum struggled under the weight of Slaine's body, her hands scrambling in the puddle of Slaine and Inaho's now mingled blood for purchase. Instead they brushed up against something hard that shifted easily as her hand brushed it, her fingertips identifying it as a gun. Versian or Earthian it didn't matter in that moment, as Seylum's hand closed around the hilt.

Slow, deliberate footsteps drew nearer and Seylum could hear the soft, emotionless mutterings, "I… I will kill all those… whom I hate… and break… break the cycle. Forgive me, Orlane… for not doing so... sooner." Saazbaum staggered to the edge of the debris, Slaine's blood soaked back was proof enough the boy had added himself to the list of casualties. But this would not end until they were all dead, and the shot that had hit the Princess had not been fatal, even he had seen that when she managed to keep her feet for a moment, and Saazbaum could not allow her to live. Drawing close enough to the rubble he finally caught sight of the long strand of pale golden hair, before his eyes widened in shock and another shot rang out. Saazbaum dropped like a stone, a hole through the center of his forehead from the gun held not more than a few inches away by the once innocent princess of Vers.


	3. Chapter 2

Seylum couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, the blood of three men covered her, mingling with her own, as she struggled to push Slaine's limp body from hers, already his breathing had stopped and the blood had ceased to pump from his body. Her body felt numb, hot and cold all at once, and the sound of rattling terrified her for a moment before she realized it was the gun, rattling with the force of her shaking hand. A soft moan, no more than a whisper caught her attention and she turned to see Inaho, laying on the ground, his body barely moving as his chest continued to rise and fall faintly. Waves of dizziness washed over her as she struggled to extricate herself from beneath the body of her friend, but all other thoughts faded from her mind when she realized Inaho wasn't dead. Not yet.

Looping his arm over her shoulder, she staggered under his weight, and felt fresh pulses of hot blood start to flow down her torso, his or her own, she couldn't be sure as she staggered toward the door. It didn't matter if moving him could kill him, leaving him here surely would. Escape. Return to the Duecalion. Get help. Simple thoughts were all Seylum could manage in her current state, her vision swimming as her labored steps dragged her toward the door, or along the path she remembered when her vision swam too far out of focus for her to see it clearly. "Please… please don't die, Inaho." She whispered as they drew closer to the door, the prayer was worth the precious breath it cost her to give life to those words, "Please, Inaho… please. Just a little further."

Her hand touched the panel to open the door and everything went white, muted sounds that might have been voices filtered through along with the the thought she only hoped she managed to say aloud, "Help… Inaho…" these spun briefly before her senses before everything faded, even those sensations and vague thoughts into the all consuming blackness.

-Deucalion Med Bay-December 2015-Five Days Later-

Captain Magbaredge made her way down the hall toward the med bay her composed features flickering for a moment when she saw the very person she was looking for with a none too promising expression on his face. Doctor Yagarai stood outside an open med bay door, his eyes on the occupants, a young man lay still and motionless on the bed, his skin finally shifting back to a color on the spectrum of the living as compared to the ghost he had been for days; and beside him was a young woman in a wheelchair who was physically healing but no one had yet been able to touch the scars on her heart.

"How are your patients, doctor?" Magbaredge asked quietly as she looked at the pair as well, her eyes already telling her the hollowed out look in Princess Asseylum's eyes didn't bode well for any further recovery. She has seen soldiers come home and physically heal their wounds, only to die from ones no surgery could touch on their hearts, wasting away from a pain they could not escape, nor endure. A small gesture caught her gaze and gave her hope that their Princess was not yet that far beyond hope; Princess Asseylum reached out her hands to take one of Kaizua's, and while she flinched at first, she tried again and folded it gently in her own.

"If he does not wake soon, the chances of him ever waking get steeper and steeper." Yagarai said with soft concern, but no amount of worry or need would change the simple fact of Young Kaizuka's condition, something he had yet to tell Princess Asseylum no matter how she had asked him in the days since she had awoken after her own injuries. "And I fear… if he does not wake… neither will she."

Nodding without comment Magbaredge said instead, "There are still repairs the Deucalion needs, the last of which is our communications system. If I put it off until the end, we have at most four days before I have to report our whereabouts and condition to headquarters, unless they find us first." Seeing his raised brows she relaxed her posture for just a moment, running her fingers through her hair with a deep sigh and faint smile, "I was rather hoping communication might be delayed long enough that the details of the mission could be… edited… to shorten the length of the novel of a report I am going to have to write."

Yagarai chuckled and flicked his eyes at the sound of approaching footsteps, watching her casual manner straighten back up as an orderly rounded the corner, just in time to miss her Captain's moment of humanity. Exchanging a nod she turned to leave but Yagarai called out to her, "Captain." When her face turned back to him once more the cool composed features of the Captain they all needed he offered, "I will report any change in their conditions to you immediately, please don't hesitate to come to me if there is anything else you need." The ghost of a smile he caught the moment before she turned assured him she had gotten his offer to listen if she ever needed to talk to someone who would not be disheartened by their Captain's fallible humanity.

-Deucalion Med Bay-December 2015-Three Days Later-

Seylum sighed as Inko pushed her wheelchair down the hall to Inaho's room, "I can walk… and I would not wish to keep imposing on you. Even if I must stay in the chair, I can steer myself such a short distance." Her heart quavered everytime she tried to speak to the people she had spoken to with such ease, with that same casualness, it felt wrong, as if she no longer deserved such allowances.

Inko tried to keep the panic out of her tone as she replied, "You had better not! Your shoulder is still far from healed, and you lost so much blood…" She trailed off, remembering jumping as the door slid open and leveling her gun at a blood-soaked Seylum with Inhao's limp body draped over her shoulder. She stopped the memory before it could continue and shook her head, "Rayet is the only Versian we have on board and you're lucky enough her blood type was a match. You've got to take care of yourself…" It pained Inko to see how those words of concern seemed to echo without really reaching her friend, so she tried something different, "And you have to set a good example for when Inaho wakes up! Or he'll just go back to his…" Inko trailed off at the way Asseylum paled, her slender hands clench on the blanket laying over her lap as her eyes grew distant, Inko sighed looking at the too still form of her friend and parked the wheelchair beside the bed. Laying a hand on the Princess's shoulder she sighed internally at the haunted eyes that looked up at her as the expression faded to carefully schooled blankness before she could ask, "Wh-" She sighed and tried again, "Should I ask the nurse to bring your lunch here again today?" Inko asked softly watching as Seylum's eyes turn from Inaho to focus back on her.

Seylum flushed a little guiltily when she realized Inko had been speaking to her while she had been caught in her thoughts, what would Inaho say about her having killed someone. She hadn't yet reconciled having taken with a life even to save her own, even when she had spoken with Doctor Yagarai and he had pointed out she had not only saved her own life but that of Inaho as well, it had not eased the sense of taint that filled her. Even if they could forgive her, how could she ever forgive herself? That question haunted her as she saw Saazbaum's wide and unseeing eyes whenever she dared to close her eyes, even as Slaine's blood choked voice struggled to call out her name, made her stomach roil and held sleep at bay. "I am sorry, Inko." She said only barely keeping the tremor out of her voice, "Yes, I will be here during lunch, but I can tell one of the nurses when they come to check in on Inaho. Th-thank you. I really do appreciate your help. I-" She stopped when the young pilot raised her hand a softly stern expression on her pretty face.

"Asseylum, please. You are my friend. I care about you. And… with everything that has happened... " Inko's expression shifted to one of wistful confusion, "Everyone has been scarred by what has happened to them. We just… have to learn to live with it as best we can." Resting her hand gently on the Princess's shoulder Inko gave her a small smile, "I will tell the nurse about lunch, and I'll check back in after lunch on you two… okay?"


	4. Chapter 3

Seylum lowered her head over their joined hands and offered prayer after prayer to whatever power guided the universe, whatever her own beliefs she wasn't going to stop short of whoever might listen to her. It was the smallest twitch that she felt first with her eyelash, the softest flicker of a finger to brush those fragile hairs; jerking upright Asseylum's eyes flickered to his face as he stirred, "Inaho!" She said her words barely more than a whisper laden with such hope it was almost to heavy to travel past her lips, "Inaho… please…" She didn't even know what she was begging him for, only that he needed to be awake for it.

"Mm… Sey… lum…" The name came out in two seperate breathes, each labored as Inaho tried to look around him and found one eye covered, his hand rose to the bandage still over his eye and Asseylum grabbed it and lowered it back down to the bed, he lay back, exhausted by his attempts to move and just looked at her, "Wh-what happened?"

Asseylum swallowed the lump in her throat as tears ran unabashed down her cheeks, "Sl-slaine and Saazbaum died. The mission was a succ-cess… Bu-but you were hurt… b-badly… they had to…" She sniffled and composed herself a bit better when he weakly squeezed her hand, perhaps it was just to test his control but it gave her strength, "They had to replace your eye… but this one they said would function as the old one did… even better perhaps. They just need to calibrate it… but they couldn't do that until you woke."

Laying back in bed Inaho felt like every part of his body was made of lead, he was she was not seated in a chair beside him but a wheelchair instead, which implied she had been injured after he had fallen. "What day is today?" He asked, resisting the urge to try and sit up and reaching instead for the nurse's call button, so she could help him sit up, he had no desire to make his injuries any worse, and extend his stay in the medbay longer than necessary. He turned his head, feeling the heavy pad of the bandage pressing up against the side of his face as he looked over at the princess. Her hair was limp and lacked the luster it had had not a week ago, her eyes had bags beneath them, and all of that could be explained away by her recent injury, but the haunted look in her eyes was not so easily dismissed.

"Today is December 19th. It's been eight days since we left for the Princess One mission." Whatever else she had been able to say was cut off by the nurse walking in with a tray of food and almost dropping it when she saw Inaho turn his head to face her, "Ensign Kaizuka, It's good to see you awake. I'll come back in with a lunch for you as well as soon as we check that you're ready for solid foods." Setting the tray down on a small table beside Asseylum the nurse checked all the readouts before doing a physical exam, touching and asking he he could feel pressure, texture or pain, checking his eye, ears, and asking questions that tested both his short term and long term memory recall. Than when he asked, she helped him to sit up in bed, even arranging the pillows around him to better support his body, "Well, you seem well, but I'll call the doctor and confirm, that there is no need to hold back solids and be back with some for you." She slipped back out of the room and Inaho looked over at Asseylum who had not spoken a word the entire time the woman was there. He noticed her eyes had dropped to her hands and and she was rubbing a single spot in the center of her palm as if she was trying to erase something.

"Seylum?" The voice startled her from her thoughts and had her looking at the young man, her heart racing, would he hate her if he found out, or would he by some miracle help her make peace with it somehow. She looked up and couldn't stop the tears from falling as she struggled with the words, "When we were… I… I shot C-count S-saazbaum." She said the tears of self-loathing running down her cheeks she had never imagined a world in which she would have been able to taking a life and yet here she was, feeling a victim when Saazbaum was the one who was dead.

Inaho gripped Seylum's hand gently and she looked up, shocked that his face seemed to calm, but then it always seemed calm, even in the most hopeless of situations, he found a way, "There are things in this world, who exist off of others. When someone exists solely off of others and offers nothing in return other than it's own continued existence, it is a parasite. Parasites consume a host and then move on to another until it is killed. No parasite lives forever. The only difference is how many hosts it killed before it was killed." Saying that seemed to exhaust him as his eyes started to slide shut, his hand still holding hers, "I would rather have you here than Saazbaum." He said his words starting to slur with sleep as he passed back out.

Asseylum was still there, clinging to his hand as the tears started to fall hot and fast when the nurse finally returned with a second tray to see Inaho once more asleep and Asseylum sobbing her eyes out beside him, "Princess?" She asked softly, setting down the tray and gently touching the girl's shoulder. Finally looking up from her tears Asseylum shook her head, "It's okay… he just fell back asleep." She saw the worry in the woman's eyes and smiled, a ghost of her old smile, "I will be fine, but I'd like to stay awhile longer if I may…" The nurse nodded and Asseylum turned to her lunch, eating and for the first time in a while tasting the food.

When Inko returned to the room she found Asseylum asleep beside the bed, her cheek pillowed on Inaho's hand and the nurse paused as she passed by to smile, "I should move her back to her own bed, but I can't find the heart. He woke up for a few minutes but then fell back asleep, he should be awake again by dinner time when his body starts to get hungry." Inko nodded watching the two and only barely hearing the nurse as she spoke. Inko nodded and after muttering something about not wanting to wake them returned to her room and locked the door behind to have a good cry for what she realized she could never have.


	5. Chapter 4

-Russian United Earth Forces Base-January 2016-A Week and a Half Later-

Inaho looked at the cards in his hand his eye whirling and shifting slightly as it adjusted its various filters and features to focus on the cards, his grip was soft but firm enough to not have cards slipping free and across from him sat Seylum with her own hand full of cards, but her eyes as usual were on him, "I am fine, Seylum." Inaho said a hint of a smile coming to his lips, for someone who had been shot as well she spent more time monitoring his recovery than his own sister, which was no low bar.

Seylum startled and her eyes focused on the whole of his face with a sweet smile, "You're doing much better today, your hands aren't shaking, you're not bending the cards… I am sorry if I stared I was just watching your eye, normally you can hardly tell what it is. But when it shifts it moves faster than a normal eye would… where are we?" She asked looking back at her hand of cards.

Inaho looked over to the laptop beside him and started typing one handed, the other still holding his cards, "You were about to draw a card because you have nothing to play." He said shifting the low priority settings for his eye to slow the pupil contraction rate to something more normal-looking outside of combat or a higher intensity situation. When he turned back his lips twitched at the almost child-like pout of frustration as Seylum drew what must have been half the deck into her hand.

Finally finding a card that could be played she laid it down with some small triumph and Inaho replied with a card of his own, "Uno." He said, showing there was only one card remaining in his hand.

Seylum sighed gustily and rested her half-deck of a hand in her lap, "Shall we start again than?" She said with amused resignation, "There is no chance of me winning now."

Inaho smiled, "Well statistically speaking there are three colors, and nine numbers this card does not match with, plus the possible use of a skip, reverse, draw two, or either wild card, but since you had not been able to play, we can assume you don't have any of the wild cards, that still leaves thirty-nine possible card choices, twelve of which can be played on top of this card, that will all require me to draw next round, And I can bet easily, you have most of those options in your hand."

Seylum considered for a moment, "But how can I properly choose when I don't know what your card is?" She said after a moment of considering her cards and realizing she needed to know his to decide. They both looked up when someone entered the room, dressed in the nursing uniform of the United Earth Forces Base, it was time for the Princess's physical therapy but Inaho noted the way her hand shifted to gently hold the sheet on the bed involuntarily.

"We'll be ready to go in a moment." Inaho said pressing the call button to bring his nurse, "I'll just ask the nurse to bring me a chair." He said matter-a-factly and watched Seylum's expression turn composed, to hide the momentary shock his statement had been, the nurse was far less practiced and her brow furrowed.

"I am sorry. But there is no need for you to come since your therapy doesn't begin for another few days, and you have no need to join us." She said moving slightly to the side as the nurse from the Deucalion who had been assigned to Inaho poked her head around the door frame.

"I'll need a wheelchair, and assistance down to the Physical therapy room." Inaho said to his nurse who nodded and disappeared before turning to the nurse whose arms were all but crossed over her chest in irritation, "I do need to be there, I am the princess's cultural interpreter." He said without hesitation and smiled inwardly when Seylum nodded solemnly.

"Many of the customs of Earth are still very different for me, and it is very important to me not only to learn them, but to avoid any uncomfortable missteps I might make in misunderstanding them." Seylum said as if it really were such a simple fact. The nurse did not looked convinced and Inaho wondered if she would seek verification from the Deucalion, though knowing the Captain she might just follow through with the creation of the position, but instead Seylum spoke again, "He goes with me everywhere I travel, and is indispensable to me." The princess said firmly, looking for all the world as if she sat on a throne rather than a wheel chair, folding her hands in her lap the expression on her face booked no disagreement. Everyone was silent as the other nurse with another wheel chair arrived and helped Inaho in to it and the four of them headed to the Physical Therapy room.

-Russian United Earth Forces Base-February 2016-A Month and a Half Later-

"Inaho! Wait!" Inko hurried down the hall, barely catching sight of the young man as he turned corner after corner, his pace quick for one still attending weekly physical therapy. She had a bottle of pills in one hand and bottle of water in the other, "Inaho!"

Inaho ignored her, and moved to knock firmly on a door, that slowly slid open to reveal, Seylum, folding a length of white fabric into a suitcase, as she herself was dressed in simple civilian garments, her long golden hair braided down her back in an intricate plait, "Inaho…" Asseylum said startled but before she could ask he spoke.

"Is is true, you've asked permission to leave the Deucalion for one of the Martian Landing Castles when we're in space?" He asked his tone level, but Inko dropped both pills and bottle when she heard it with a shocked exclamation.

Asseylum stood straight, looking every bit someone who had made her own decision, and had the weight of a legacy standing in her shadow, "It is. I requested you as an escort but if you feel that would be inappropriate I will withdraw the request and accept whomever the captain assigns."

Inaho gave a short shake of his head, "No. I am here to convince you to withdraw your request to return. The likelihood of any of the Orbital Knights of complying with your wishes is suboptimally low." She opened her mouth to protest and he raised a hand continuing, "There has to be another way. As I said, this was is not about you, it is not your fault. It is a negotiation of resources."

Asseylum sat back on the bed, looking firm still, "You also said it would not end until one side gained those resources or the overall cost of human life grew too high. It is already too high! I cannot do nothing!"

Inko rushed forward to sit beside Asseylum and gave Inaho a stern look which he easily ignored, "What if there were a way to give the Versians the resources they seek without giving them Earth?" Inaho asked his eyes already unfocusing as his brain started to churn.

"H-how?" Asseylum said her eyes wide with the first touch of hope to them, "It… it might not fix the hatred but it would make it easier for me to change the focus back to Vers and making use of those resources."

Inaho stood there, his mind focused and intent, Seylum's words catching in his mind and spinning faster and faster, "Back to Vers… What makes Vers so hard to cultivate?" Inaho asked, the question sounding rhetorical.

"A thin atmosphere and limited water." Inko supplied and Asseylum nodded adding in turn, "We have been able to bring in water from asteroids and space debris on occasion but without atmosphere to contain it, despite our best efforts, small inefficiencies diminish any surplus over time, and acquisition is extremely costly and difficult."

"How do you contain the water over cultivation areas?" Inaho asked, already suspecting but needing confirmation for the beginnings of a theory he had.

"Small gravitational barriers that help sustain the settlements surrounding the cultivable area. But they are unstable and can be destroyed by solar flares, magnetic variations, and a variety of other disturbances." Asseylum said her face falling, for a moment she had thought there might have been something but even with Aldnoah the limit of what they had been able to achieve was so limited, and while Earth had many things, their technology was far behind that of Vers.

Inaho spoke aloud, thinking as he spoke, "The Deucalion is based on the kataphrakt of Duchess Orlane, who had the ability to synthesize gravitational forces…" he stopped a moment of silence as he considered his words, "What is, that could be used… to stabilize a release of ozone, by containing it long enough for the layer to stabilize?" He asked before shaking his head, "It'd dissipate as soon as the power was exhausted, but if enough of them could be made, strong enough… even if they could not cover the planet… at high enough intensities the atmosphere might be able to be thickened, and perhaps layered… maybe even stabilized."

Asseylum listened, "I do not know. The kataphrakts are granted only to nobility, not much study has been performed on them as few Knights or Nobles are willing to debase themselves by submitting to experimentation."

"Given what scientists have been capable of doing in shaping the Aldnoah drive of the Deucalion into this ship, our scientists may be more capable of pursuing this project than those of Vers, given social limitations." He said scooping up the bottles on the ground where Inko had dropped them, "But they would need to be able to study the effects with someone capable of activating and helping them run those tests on Aldnoah Drives, we do have a few parts and pieces from those we've been able to defeat." Looking over at Seylum, Inaho didn't blink, "It would mean for stalling your attempts to travel back to Vers, were you to stay and help with this."

Asseylum took a deep breath, "Let me speak with your scientists to see if it is even conceptually possible. And if it is. I will stay, I will stay in the hope that my presence can help bring about a better future for Vers and her people."

Inaho nodded, no hint of a smile on his face, but his posture the smallest bit more relaxed, "I will inform the Captain of your decision and request for a conference with any available experts."


End file.
